Sonic The Dark Descent
by GreenMonkey18
Summary: We all know the game Sonic '06, well I wasn't really happy that two of my favorite characters Mephiles and Silver were introduced into such a horrible game. So I started thinking and came up with this. edit: fixed some stuff with the two newest chapters. Sorry about that. They got screwed up in the transfer somewhere. Enjoy!
1. Darkness Returns

A dark figure walked towards the circle of Chaos Emeralds, that had been collected, and placed in their respective slots in the intricately designed portal. As the figure moved closer, it was joined by another.

"Have you found the last one?"

"Yes, it is time we brought him back."

"Do you think this will work?" The second figure asked.

"It has to. Otherwise we will not be complete."

As the first figure finished talking, it began walking towards the final empty slot, and placed the purple Chaos Emerald where it belonged. Suddenly all the intricate curves and lines of the circle began to glow, and as they reached each Chaos Emerald, each one began to glow as well.

At first it was their respective colors, red, blue, purple, green, orange, silver, and yellow, but suddenly their lights diminished, and were replaced by a black light, with small hints of a dark purple crossing in between the lights. As all the lights shot into the middle, they joined, and their combined blast hit the center of the circle. As the dark light began to spread, covering the markings, a hand began to rise from it. Soon, everything stopped, and the Chaos Emeralds vanished, leaving only the body now rising from the floor.

"Wha...Where am... I?" Mephiles asked, as he opened his eyes.

The two figures lowered their hoods as well, so that he would know who they were, and in unison spoke.

"Welcome back brother. Welcome back to the world of the living."


	2. The Sunny Sky

A blue flash sped by the little monkey, almost toppling it from it's perch. A few miles after this the blur stopped in front of a yellow fox with two tails continuously switching back and forth. Behind the fox was a giant blue plane, with yellow here and there, giving more detail to the plane.

"Took you long enough Sonic." The yellow fox said.

"Haha, the only reason you beat me Tails was 'cause o' your new parts." Sonic the Hedgehog replied.

"Well you know, my Ultra Boost bump bumpers were installed to increase my speed by 300% while also stabilizing the..."

"Ok Tails, I get it, your machine is faster now. Haha, you gotta remember bud. I don't talk machine. That's your job." Sonic finished, before patting Tails on the head.

Tails sighed, before letting it go and running to catch up with his friend. As they reached the top of the hill, the first thing they noticed was a pink flash, running directly for Sonic.

"SOOONNNIIIICCCCCC!" Amy cried as she ran into Sonic, toppling him back down the hill he had just climbed. Tails turned around and laughed, before going and joining the rest of the group.

After Sonic climbed back up the hill, with Amy attached to his hip, he looked at all his friends. They had all gathered together. Knuckles the Echinda, Rouge the Bat, Charmy Bee, Mighty the Armadillo, Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, Big the Cat, Cream the Rabbit, and even Shadow. They had gathered today, cause this was the day. The day that they had saved the world. Sonic shuddered as he remembered his own death, but quickly forgot about it as he joined his friends, in anticipation for what was about to happen.

Suddenly, a portal appeared, and Silver the Hedgehog walked out, stepping foot in the grass, before he put out a hand, so that he could help Blaze down.

"Hey guys. I'm back, well, I guess we're back." Silver stated, blushing at the last part.

Blaze giggled at Silver's skin flushing, before she too stepped out of the portal completely. Now they were all here. The festivities could begin. As they began their picnic, Sonic looked at all his friends, and was filled with happiness. He was glad that he had such good friends. Silver looked at him and smiled, before he began to walk over towards Sonic. As he sat down, Shadow too decided to join.

"It's been a while since we were all together." Silver stated.

"Yeah about five years."

"Hmm, who's fault is that. Anyways, that doesn't matter. We're here right now. Enjoy the moment. At least, that's what you and Sonic keep telling me."

"Well Shadow that's cause you kinda, well I dunno how to say it, you're uptight man. Loosen up, let go. Enjoy life."

"Haha, what Sonic said, life is a great thing. Trust me, I enjoy the one I have now." Silver said, smiling as he looked at Blaze, talking with Amy and Cream.

"Speaking of which man, what happened? I mean, last I remember, you said that she gave herself to Iblis." Sonic stated, interested in this tidbit of info.

"Haha, well I guess you did something, maybe because Iblis was never actually real, but I dunno I just woke up and everything was alright. Blaze was still alive. I can't say that I don't wonder what happened, but at the same time, I don't question it either."

"Hmph. Well I'm glad that you both have amazing lives. I on the other hand don't have anything."

"Not true Shadow, you have Rouge."

" ! I have no idea what you're talking about!" Shadow spurt, his entire face a blushing red.

"Haha, see now we know there's something there." Sonic stated.

"Yep. Definitely." Silver chimed in.

Suddenly, a small round orb appeared over the three. Right as they were about to touch it, a picture of Eggman appeared.

"Sonic! Oh, and the other two are there too I see. Good! Now you can all help me." Eggman almost spat.

"And why would we " Sonic said pointing to himself, SIlver, and Shadow, "do that?"

"Because you Ungrateful little blue worm, I have a problem! One that concerns the both of us!" Eggman stated before he turned the camera towards what appeared to be explosions.

Suddenly Sonic, Silver, and Shadow, all saw something that made their blood run cold. Something that shouldn't have been possible.

"No... It can't be."

"But, but... he died."

"What is this madness?"

The three of them looked at the screen, and knew it was true, Mephiles was back, and he wasn't playing around from the looks of things.

"Now then, do you three morons understand the gravity of my situation?! I would appreciate it if you would stop standing there, staring like the buffoons you are, and come help with this problem. Wait, what there's... It can't be... What is this... Nooooo!" Eggman screamed before the camera he held dropped to the floor. Suddenly it was picked up again, this time by what appeared to be a red crystal version of Mephiles.

"Brother! Come look! The three Hedgehogs are here on the screen. Come say hello to them!" She shouted. Suddenly Mephiles was there, holding the camera, and even though he didn't have a mouth, the three hogs knew he was smiling at them.

"Well, well. If it isn't my three favorite Hedgehogs. Sonic, Shadow, and Silver. you all seem to have grown on me. How time seems to fly when you no longer exist. However, thanks to my family" he pointed the screen at two more figures, the one with red, and another who appeared to have green crystals, "I'm back, and this time I will finish what I started. You're world will end. I'll make sure of it."

Suddenly the camera was dropped on the ground, before it was completely crushed, under what could only be Mephiles foot. As the group continued to hear the crunch, the others ran up to them. Amy being the first to speak asked:

"What's wrong Sonic? You look pale."

Sonic dazed only looked into the distance, before he was able to say:

"He's... He's back... Mephiles... He's back."

As the final word left his lips the entire group gasped, and then fell silent. Each one of them rememberd Mephiles, whether through experience or through Sonic's tale, and now, that being of ultimate evil was back, and they had no idea how they would stop him.


	3. Rescuing Eggman Part 1

"We have to save Eggman." Silver stated, turning to look at Sonic and Shadow, who both seemed to still be shocked by the entire development.

"Sonic!" Tails shouted, smacking Sonic.

"Shadow!" Rouge shouted, kicking Shadow.

"Oww!"

"Good now that you two are back with us. We need to rescue Eggman. Whatever Mephiles is planning can't be good." Silver restated.

"I hate to admit it, but he does have a point Sonic." Tails chimed in.

"Hmm, well I guess we probably should, but how is he alive? Didn't we erase Iblis and him from existence?"

"Yes, we did. I was there. I saw it. Nothing makes sense, but we must rescue Doctor Eggman. Even if he is nothing but a fat oaf."

"Well then, now that we're in agreement, let's go!" Silver stated, before he began to glow, and shot off at breakneck speeds.

"Haha, a challenge huh? Let's go!" Sonic shouted, rushing after Silver.

"Hmmph. Morons." Shadow stated before he too, joined in.

As the others watched them speed away they began to chat between themselves.

"Tails. Do you know how they could've done this?" Amy asked.

"I don't but I might be able to..." Tails started.

"I'm sorry. Was the question how we brought Mephiles back?" A dark figure who had appeared out of nowhere asked.

"Who are you?" Knuckles asked, before he backed into his attack stance.

"Humph! That is no way to treat a lady! Even if I am your enemy." The figure stated, a smile spreading across her lips before she rushed at Knuckles, only to be blocked by Espio.

"You will not harm any of the people here, no matter who you are." Espio stated, before he was joined by the rest of the Chaotix.

"Ooohh! How mean! You would fight a girl like me?" the figure said.

"Hmph! If you're gonna act that way about it, then it's time that these girls showed you how to fight!" Amy and Rouge said at the same time, as they both pounced at their target. The figure easily dodged both attacks and began laughing.

"Who are you?" Tails asked.

"I already told you, I'm Mephiles sister." The figure replied.

"He meant what's your name, freak." Amy shot back.

"Very well. I guess I should end my charade." The figure stated as it grabbed the darkness surrounding it, and tore it off, as if it had been a cloak the entire time.

"My name is Lilithia, and I've come to take care of you pests."

Suddenly she was rushing at them again, and as Espio, Charmy, Mighty, Vector, and Knuckles prepared themselves for her attack, she instantly disappeared, and was standing behind them. They all turned, confused by how she had gotten past them, but then each one suddenly were bombarded by pain, and fainted.

"What'd you do?!" Tails screamed.

"Tails. Get out of here, go warn Sonic and them. We'll hold them off." Amy said before she turned to face Lilithia, Rogue and Blaze by her side.

"You cannot hope to defeat me." Lilithia stated before she rushed after the yellow fox. Halfway there, she was stopped, by Amy, before Rogue and Blaze both attacked her from above, only barely missing as she jumped back last second.

"Don't underestimate us girls." Amy began.

"We're stronger than you think." Blaze put in.

"And if you break one of my nails while I'm wiping the floor with you, I will make you pay." Rogue finished.

Tails looked at them, as Cream and Big crammed into his guest compartments. Before he got cold feet, he turned on the engine, and began flying off, away from the fighting.

"Good at least they escaped." Amy sighed, before she went back into her stance, ready for anything this new girl might throw.

"Well darn. I was supposed to capture you all. Brother is not going to be pleased. Oh well. He's still got a little surprise in store for Sonic and the other two." Lilithia smiled.

"What!? Damn. That means I'm gonna have to kick your butt ASAP!" Amy yelled as she rushed in, followed closely by Rogue and Blaze.

Amy swung with her hammer, coming straight down at Lilithia, while Rogue got her from the side, and Blaze from the back. Right as they were about to hit, she chuckled, and they were thrown back by a force that had appeared from nowhere. As they landed, Amy stood back up and rushed again, swinging again and again to try and hit Lilithia, seeming to miss every single time. Soon Rogue joined back in, trying to kick with little luck. Finally, Blaze was able to continue fighting, but even with all three. None of them could touch Lilithia. Finally, she flicked her wrist and they were sent flying again.

"Ha! Idiots should know when they're defeated. Stay down!" She said as she kicked Amy square in the chest. Knocking the wind out of her. As Amy began to lose consciousness, she noticed that Rouge and Blaze were out. Something snapped inside Amy, and she began to feel an overwhelming anger take control of her. As this happened, she blanked out, completely losing herself.

"Well that was easy. One of you has already succumbed to my power." Lilithia laughed.

As she was laughing the Rage-Amy rushed her, the hammer in her hand, turning into a more dark form, with spikes appearing on both ends of the hammer. Her speed was fast, almost enough to match with Lilithia. Her strength was vast. Every time she swung, she would almost disintegrate whatever her hammer touched.

"I've played with you for long enough. Time to obey." Lilithia stated before she appeared behind the Rage-Amy, and put a collar around her neck, which completed the transformation. Amy's clothes, took on a more goth-like appearance, and her mind, became subservient to Lilithia instantly.

"Good. Now go put those collars on your friends as well. This time we'll use his friends to destroy everything." Lilitha stated, before she began to laugh maniacally.


	4. Rescuing Eggman Part 2

Sonic stopped on the hill overlooking Eggman's city. It was in ruins, with parts of it completely set on fire. Soon Silver and Shadow caught up, witnessing the destruction.

"How could he do this? All this damage in such a short amount of time?"

"He's not alone this time Sonic. We have to remember that he had two others with him, that looked almost exactly identical to him."

"Hmm. The Silver one has a good point. Sonic we should watch our backs if we are to continue."

"I got it already. Let's go!" Sonic stated before he jumped off the hill, closely followed by Silver and Shadow.

As they reached the bottom of the hill, they were surrounded by Eggman's robots. However these ones seemed to have some green crystal growing on them. As they rushed, Sonic curled into a ball and shot himself at the closest one, only to be shot back by bouncing off the crystals.

"What the..." Sonic said, dizzy from his attack.

"Hmm. You can't just smash these ones it would appear." Shadow stated.

"Well then, let's try this!" Silver shouted as he began to raise the bots from the ground.

As he was doing this, Shadow noticed the giant spot on their back that had no crystal growing from it.

"Sonic hit their backs!"

Sonic nodded and curled into a ball again, before shooting into the backs of the robots that had surrounded them.

With the robots destroyed. Sonic and the other two looked out and saw Eggman's main cruiser in the middle of all the wreckage. As they rushed to it, dispatching the robots along the way, they saw the carnage that Mephiles had caused. Robot parts were everywhere, and even some of the older modeled Metal Sonics were strewn across the battlefield. Soon they had passed all this and reached the entrance to the eggfleet's figurehead, the Eggpire Class X.

Sonic felt something was off though. Their journey here had been too easy. What was Mephiles planning.

As they stepped into the main room in the Eggpire, they stepped back in shock when they found Eggman, strung up as if he was being crucified, in all his wires. They heard him moan and began cutting him down.

"Eggman! Hey! You alright?" Sonic shouted.

"Shut up... you... annoying... hedgehog." Eggman wheezed. " Get ... out... now... trap."

As Dr. Robotnik dropped to the floor completely unconscious, all their exits opened up and were swarmed by the same green-crystal robots they had faced before. Walking behind them was none other than Mephiles himself, followed closely by another Mephiles with green crystals instead of purple.

"So predictable Sonic. You really haven't changed."

"Mephiles! What are you doing back? We saw you die!" Silver shouted.

The green one was about to speak up before Mephiles silenced him with a hand.

"Nice to see you too Silver. Hope the future is still as 'bright' as I remember it." Mephiles stated before turning to Shadow and continuing, "And Shadow. It's a great pleasure to see you again.

Finally he turned to Sonic and his eyes narrowed as he spoke.

"Sonic how the times have changed. You seem to still be, oh what's the word? Alive. I'll be sure to finish the job this time, however."

"What do you want Mephiles? Revenge on me because I kicked your butt last time we met?" Sonic shouted.

"YOU INSOLENT HEDGEHOG! I will make sure your death is slow and painful!" Mephiles shouted back, a black cloud engulfing him as he got angrier.

"Calm down brother, remember why we are still here."

"Yes, his friends are probably ours by now anyways. Have the robots dispose of Eggman, and keep this 'hog busy. I do not want any interruptions this time." Mephiles stated before he opened a portal of darkness that he and the green version then stepped into.

"What? What do you mean? MEPHILES!" Shadow began shouting, before all that was there was air.

"We'll worry about that later. Right now we need to fight these robots and save Robotnik." Silver stated, as he began glowing again.

"Yeah, yeah. Then we go see what no-face was talkin' 'bout." Sonic stated before shooting at the closest one, right before Shadow began using Chaos Control to try and destroy the other bots.

Thankfully they had fought the ones before, and had learned their weaknesses. Otherwise the fight might've been much more difficult.

As they got Eggman down, which was a rather difficult chore in itself, seeing as he was a bit on the heavy side, they asked him what had happened.

Eggman looked at them, and sighed. "Well I guess it'd be in my best interest to work with you Hedgehogs. For the sake of my glorious empire that is."

"Shut it Egghead. What happened? How is tall, dark, and evil back?" Sonic asked.

"Quiet you fool! I was getting to that. You see, I was minding my own business, plotting my next attempt to destroy you lot, when all of a sudden, an alarm started going off. When I checked it, I saw the green one, destroying my poor robots, and then turning them into these grotesque versions of themselves, with that hard green goo, you saw on those ones." He stated pointing to the robots on the floor, "He then went about sending them to do this to all the other robots within my facility, and that's when I noticed there was someone else running about. Mephiles, the very same being you had supposedly wiped out of existence."

"That doesn't explain how he came back." Silver butted in.

"I do not know all the details, only what I am telling you. However, I did hear they were planning something for your friends. You best go check on them. While I go and activate my best. My Metal line."

"Oh geez, don't tell me you're bringin' back Metal me are ya?"

"Indeed Sonic, as well as the others. Metal Shadow, and Metal Silver among them. Now go, we both have important things to do here. I promise not to double-cross you, for now. However, that will change." Eggman stated, before he disappeared down a hidden elevator.

"Darn that Egg-head." Sonic shouted, pounding on the floor.

"Sonic, now is not the time. We need to check on our friends." Silver stated.

"Hmmph, let's go then." Shadow spat.

They began running back to the hill, hoping for the best.


	5. Realization

As they were rushing towards the hills, Sonic noticed Tails plane fly overhead before dropping down into the trees near them.

"Guys that was Tails' plane!" Sonic shouted before rushing after it.

Stopping in their tracks, Shadow and Silver rushed after Sonic.

As they caught up to him, and found him pulling Tails out of the wreck, with Big and Cream lying nearby.

"Are they alright Sonic?" Silver shouted, rushing up to assess the damage.

"Yeah, Big and Cream are alright, thanks in part to Big's Fluff."

"Hmph. Well this does not look good. Why are these three running away from where we were?" Shadow stated.

"I-I dunno. I was gonna ask, but I wanna make sure Tails is alright first." Sonic stated, worry in his eyes.

"I-I-I'm fine S-Sonic. Tails stated, sitting up, before being attacked by a coughing fit.

"Tails!" The three hedgehogs shouted at once.

"I said I'm fine, but we need to hurry! Amy... the others, they were fighting... with someone who looked like ... Mephiles."

"Silver, stay here with them, make sure they're alright. Shadow, let's go!" Sonic said, rushing towards the hill.

"Sonic, wait!" Shadow shouted.

"Go. I've got this here." Silver stated.

"Fine." Shadow stated before rushing after Sonic

As Sonic reached the Hill, he noticed Amy lying on the hill. As he reached her, he went to touch her before Shadow pulled him away, right as Amy's hammer came crashing down where he'd been.

"Amy? Why? Wait, what happened to your hammer?" Sonic sputtered, in disbelief before he noticed that Amy, didn't look like Amy.

"What's wrong with Amy?"

"I don't know, but we need to fight her Sonic."

As he said that, she pounced, aiming directly for him, smashing the ground where he'd been only a second before.

Suddenly, a Dark Portal opened up, behind Amy, and a red Mephiles stepped out, although this one, was obviously female.

"Well hello! So glad to finally meet the dashing heroes who ended my brother! Oh wait, one of you is missing. Silver I believe his name was."

"Who are you, and what did you do to Amy!?" Sonic shouted, rushing after her, only to be blocked by Amy's Hammer, and Rouge's foot.

"Hahahahaha! You want to know who I am? Well your two little friends here know me, but seeing as they aren't themselves I guess I could introduce myself again. Hello, I'm Lilithia The Corrupt. Sister to the one you know as Mephiles. Your friends here, have simply succumbed to my power, and have been turned into my faithful slaves. Ohhh! Isn't it just so delicious?! Lover against lover!"

"We're not in love with them!" Sonic and Shadow shouted at the same time, before blushing.

"Oh you do protest too much."

"Shut it! Give us our friends back..." Sonic started

"Or we'll be forced to show you how we took out your brother." Shadow finished.

"Hmph! Acting all tough in front of a lady! Well it won't work on me. Now then, how about you get reaquainted with your friends? Ladies, attack!" Lilithia shouted, before turning back towards the portal and disappearing.

Amy rushed at Sonic, as Rouge jumped at Shadow. Sonic, barely rolled out of the way of Amy's hammer, before getting back on his feet, and running around her, looking for some way to free her from Lilithia's enthrallment.

Shadow, however, had decided it best to attack, and figure things out later, rushing after Rouge, dodging her kicks, and retaliating with his own barrage of punches and kicks.

"Sonic! Switch!" Shadow shouted, before jumping away from Rouge, and towards Amy.

Sonic hesitated at first, but quickly collected himself, realizing it was the best course of action. He curled up into a ball, and shot himself at Rouge, hitting her square in the chest, and pushing her back.

As Shadow rushed at Amy, dodging the hammer blows that seemed to disintegrate the very ground they touched, he slipped behind Amy, hitting her in the back of the neck. As he did this, she fell unconscious, and for the first time Shadow noticed the ring around her neck. He reached down to take it off her, but just as his hand touched it, he was knocked backwards.

As he got up to see who it was, he found himself looking at a very twisted version of Knuckles. As soon as he got to his feet, he scanned the area, and realized they needed to escape. They were nearly surrounded, the rest of the Chaotix were trying to cover all their exits, while Blaze seemed to be rushing up to join the fight herself, although by the way she looked, not for the right side.

"Sonic. We need to leave. NOW!" Shadow shouted, bringing Sonic's attention to the rest of the group.

"We need to grab at least one of them! Figure out how to save them!" Sonic shouted back.

"Fine!" Shadow whispered, building up his chaos energy. Right as Knuckles was about to hit him, he unleashed a devastating Chaos Control. One that knocked everyone on the Hill, besides Shadow, and Sonic, who'd been smart enough to create a Chaos Shield.

The two Hedgehogs grabbed Knuckles, and ran, right as a portal opened up, with Mephiles, Lilithia, and their brother walking through it.

"They've captured one of your pets Lilithia."

"So they have, it does not matter. The others are still mine to control. Plus, their friend will not be so helpful to them until they get that collar off him." Lilithia responded.

"I do hope that means it will be a very, difficult endeavor." Mephiles retorted.

"Of course brother, we need not worry about that one for a long time. In fact, he might even prove useful in his capture."

"Oh?"

"He might even lead us to the one called Tails." Lilithia responded.

"Muahahahahahah! Yes, yes he might! Then the true fun could begin." Mephiles smiled, a dark and evil smile that made the world around it shudder.


	6. The Plan

As Sonic and Shadow met back up with the rest of the group, bringing along the knocked-out Knuckles, they told of what they had seen and caught everyone else up.

"So wait, you're saying these rings around their necks are controlling them? And turning them into the weird versions of themselves?" Silver asked.

"Yep." Sonic replied.

"Hmm well these rings seem to emit a strange wave of Chaos energy that I haven't studied before." Tails stated.

"Can you fix it?"

"I believe with time, yes. However, you guys are gonna have to keep them busy while I do. I'll be here with Big and Cream using my Chaos Analyzer to try and find a way to nullify this Chaos."

"Alright Tails, we'll leave all the brainy stuff to you. I don't know about the rest of ya, but I have a bone to pick with Meph." Sonic growled, looking towards the hills.

"Calm down Sonic, rushing in isn't going to do anything to help us." Silver chimed in, patting Sonic on the back.

"He has a point, your brash mind has caused us problems in the past." Shadow stated.

"Shadow! Not now!" Silver shouted at the black Hedgehog.

"What? I merely state the truth."

"It's ok guys, I'm in control of myself this time. I'm not gonna lose to that crystal-brain." Sonic spoke.

As the three said their farewells to Tails, the rushed off, awaiting to see what was in store for them. Halfway through running back towards the hill, they were caught in a beam of light, and teleported upon a very familiar ship.

"Well, well, if it isn't the three hedge-stooges." A voice said from behind them.

Turning around ready to fight, they saw it was Eggman.

"Don't worry. I'm not here to fight you, as I said, I want to help you take Mephiles down, especially for destroying my beautiful empire base!" Eggman ranted.

"I'm going to guess that since you brought us here Dr. Eggman, you have a plan?" Shadow asked.

"Why indeed I do Shadow. A very brilliant plan indeed. While your friend down there tries to find a way to take off those rings, we'll be leading an attack on the base Mephiles set up on top of my old one."

"Wait, Mephiles did what?"

"What? You didn't know?" Eggman stated, turning on a monitor to show them the crystallized castle that now stood where Eggman's newest base had been only three hours ago.

"How did they make that so fast?" Silver asked.

"The details are beyond me, but they have done it, and are even starting to fill it with minions, mostly my robots, but a few of them you might recognize."

As he finished talking, Eggman zoomed in his camera, to get a site of Amy, Blaze, and Rouge, all walking together, guarding what appeared to be the inner gate of the castle.

"Damn him!" Sonic growled, before throwing a fist into the first robot that crossed his path.

"Stop that! It took me forever to get this ship running again, and I would like to keep my crew in working order." Eggman shouted.

"Alright then Egghead. What's your plan?" Sonic asked, calming himself down.

"Simple. I'm sure you remember your robotic counterparts?"

"Who could ever forget those bucket-o-bolts."

"Well I have finally re-activated them all." Eggman beamed as his robots began to appear.

Metal Sonic, Metal Shadow, Metal Silver, and a few of their older models stepped out of the shadows, their eyes all glowing red, a sign that they were indeed active.

"With these we will have a force strong enough to push back. To try and wipe Mephiles off the face of this planet again!" Eggman shouted as he began to laugh maniacally.

"Ok Eggman, one question though. Will they harm our friends?" Silver asked.

"No, not unless I specifically tell them to, which won't happen unless you deviate from this plan."

"Ok, so you've shown us the army, what's the plan?" Sonic asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Fine, fine. I'll get on with it. The plan is simple, the Metals will rush the gate, being far more powerful than any of the robots under their control, from there, you Sonic, and your two friends will rush past the ensuing chaos, and begin climbing the tower, As soon as they are able, Metal Sonic, Silver, and Shadow will follow you three, helping to clear out the trash quickly, before we reach the top, where I assume Mephiles and those other two reside.

Once we get to that point, I myself will join the fight in one of my mechs, and help you take out those three, with a seven man team."

"And if something goes wrong?" Silver chimed in.

"Nothing will go wrong Hedgehog. I have this plan mapped out perfectly. Now then go to the pods, so I can shoot you down and begin this assault."

"Why do I get a feeling that somethings gonna go wrong?" Sonic whispered as he walked off.


	7. Loss

Sonic looked over at Silver and Shadow, they had been given their own small egg-ship, that even had an autopilot, to make sure they stayed with the main fleet. Suddenly, they saw in the distance, Mephiles crystal castle. It was bigger than even the screens had made it look. In front of it, Sonic could see all the infected robots walking around, the green slime oozing from them.

Suddenly, the pods around them, carrying the Metals and a few of Robotniks hench bots, shot towards the ground. After a few seconds, so did theirs.

As they hit the ground the door shot forward knocking into 3 of the infected bots. Sonic got out first, and noticed the carnage going on. Eggman had been right about one thing. The Metals were decimating their infected counterparts. Even with the hardened green slime, the Metals were smashing them to pieces, even before they could attack.

Suddenly, the gates swung open and the Chaotix rushed out. Sonic truthfully noticed the changes here. Espio's color had changed from purple to neon green, and his wrist rings had grown spikes on them. Mighty had become more of a spiked ball than an armadillo, and he too had changed color to a unsettling gray, almost as if he weren't even the real Mighty, but a shady copy. Vector had switched with Espio, donning his purple color, but with a mouth filled with sharp teeth, and a emo haircut, to match the black around his eyes. Charmy, was by far the creepiest change. He now wore a biker's jacket, his helmet had a skull with two crossbones behind it, and he too, was wearing spikes everywhere. The creepiest part though, at least to Sonic, was their eyes. They were all red, with a faint shadow behind them, a purple and red mist, seemed to dance behind their eyes.

Shadow had to push Sonic out of the way, as Mighty spun into the air and slammed into the ground where Sonic had been not two seconds ago.

"Thanks"

"Keep your mind on the fight! We need to stop Mephiles here, before he has more time to scheme."

"You're right. Sorry."

They both rushed forward. Using their many fights against each other, and with each other, they began curling up into their balls, but instead of taking a target each, they began to spin around each other, creating a mesmerizing image of black and blue, swirling around each other. It was enough to catch the Chaotix off guard long enough for Sonic and Shadow both to go right past them.

"Ok guys, I'll just catch up on my own then!" Silver shouted as he barreled straight past the Chaotix, Both Metal Sonic and Metal Shadow right behind him.

As they ran into the courtyard, they jumped back, just as Amy's hammer smashed into the ground in front of them.

"Wait, wasn't she supposed to be farther back into the fortress than this?"

"Well guess ol' Eggheads info wasn't as smooth as he thought."

"Nothing surprising there."

Suddenly their earpieces squeaked.

"Well excuse me you rodents for not being all knowing! Gah I am a mastermind, but that doesn't mean I can predict everything correctly! Just mostly everything. NOW GET MOVING!"

"Ya don't have to shout."

"What a pain."

"OW! My ears!"

Metal Sonic had already rushed forward to meet Amy, and they were locked in combat, which as Sonic and the others could see, was pretty much Metal dodging out of the way of Amy's disintegration hammer.

"_Go." _Metal said, ushering them on forward, before dodging another blow.

As they rushed past, barely missing being hit themselves, they stood in front of a gate.

"How are we supposed to get past this."

"_Stand aside."_ Metal Shadow said, before beams appeared from his eyes and chest, that destroyed the door, clearing their path into the tower fortress.

"_Go."_ Metal Shadow told them, before he turned towards the fight and began assisting Metal Sonic in their fight against Amy.

Sonic and the other two rushed into the castle, not sure of what they'd find, but remembering the gist of the plan. Suddenly, a orb of light appeared next to them, and Metal Silver emerged from it, as the light diminished.

"Oh great. Not my stupid robot."

"_This way." _Metal Silver stated before leading them down a corridor. Suddenly Eggman was back in their ears.

"I've installed a rudimentary map of the place into Metal Silver. He'll be able to guide you to the main chamber, at least I hope."

"What? So he might just lead us somewhere else?"

"Oh quit your whining you blue furball. I couldn't get a perfectly detailed layout of the castle. Something about those crystals was warping my monitors."

"We must work with what we have. Sonic, Silver... Metal Silver. Let's go."

They rushed down the corridor, as they looked out through the slits in the crystal, they could see that the Metals had gotten rid of the robots outside and had joined Metal Sonic and Shadow in the Courtyard, freeing them to join up with Sonic and the others.

Suddenly they found themselves in a large hall. Lilithia appeared in front of them.

"Hi! Welcome to our little show area! I'm so glad you guys could make it."

"Where's Mephiles? We're gonna kick his butt and yours." Sonic shouted back.

"You wish!"

"Quiet down Lilithia. We're not here to annoy them." A figure stepped out from the shadow, "We're here to entertain them."

Suddenly the shadows removed themselves from the figure, and the green Mephiles was standing in front of them.

"Oh whatever. You never let me do anything fun Abbadis."

"I'm not here to let you have fun. I'm here to keep you in line. Anyways back to our task. Keep them here Lilithia."

"Fine."

With that the Abbadis turned and walked past the two doors leading up, and closed them behind him as he did.

"Well then. How will we have our fun boys? It's rude to keep a lady waiting you know."

"You're no lady! You're just a wrinkly old hag!" Silver shouted.

"GAHHH! HOW DARE YOU!" Lillithia shouted, her eyes glowing with a fire that hadn't been there just a few seconds ago. Suddenly she began being enveloped by shadows, before disappearing into a ball made entirely out of darkness. Metal Sonic, rushed the orb, and smacked it, before being thrown back. Suddenly the orb burst, and Lillithia stepped out in her true form.

She had gotten bigger, almost twice the size she had been before. Her crystal hair, had grown to extend well past her shoulders, to about halfway down her back. Her eyes had taken on the slit form that Mephiles had in his crystal form, and she had somehow acquired a sword, which bathed in a red mist, much like Mephiles purple.

"Now then boys. The real fight begins." She said as she pointed towards Metal Sonic, who rose with a red crystal embedded in his head.


	8. The Truth

Sonic barely dodged out of the way as Metal him sliced where he'd been standing only a second before. Suddenly, Sonic noticed it. Metal was shifting, changing. His form was taking on a twisted version of itself. His normal vibrant colors, which matched Sonic's own, became grey and dulled, while Metal himself shifted, elongated before completing his transformation into a spikier version of his Neo form. His claws were longer, sharper, and his eyes had that same reddish-purple mist behind them. Although something was off, but Sonic couldn't quite put his hand on it. Suddenly Metal Shadow and Silver rushed at Lillithia, before she batted them away with a flick of her sword.

As they crashed into the wall, Silver noticed her flick towards the both of them, red jewels finding themselves embedded into each metal skull. As they both transformed, to resemble their own dark, twisted versions of Neo Metal Sonic, Silver threw a boulder at them, hoping to delay them long enough. Unfortunately, all it did was delay them by a second, before they boulder was cut in half, and harmlessly passed them both by.

"Well now! This is quite the predicament. Time to face yourselves! Oh this will be a good show." Lillithia laughed, as she withdrew from the middle of the area, moving closer to the door.

"Guys, we're in trouble. They are us, in every way but the flesh and blood. How're we gonna do this?"

"Simple, I've beaten tin-head-me over there plenty o' times. What's one more?"

"Don't *pzzt* break *pzzt* -bots you imbe *pzzt*" Eggman stuttered from the damaged mic in Sonic's ear.

"We will destroy you Sonic. You're fate is sealed." All three bots said at once, a hint of Lillithia's voice in their own.

Suddenly, they attacked, all three of them aimed at Sonic. Sonic jumped into the air, barely getting over all three metallic balls that zoomed past where he'd been. Shadow and Silver were already going after their robotic counterparts, trying to separate them for a fair fight. Sonic looked over at Lillithia, a smile was dancing across her face. She was enjoying this, and that pissed Sonic off. Suddenly, he felt it. Inside him, there was this rage, this anger, that was rising to the surface. All he wanted to do was beat Metal Sonic until there was nothing left of the tin-can version of himself. He wanted to hold Metal Sonic's head in his hands and crush it. Forever getting rid of his foe. Then next image was Shadow, then Silver, then Tails.

Sonic shuddered. Had he, had he really just thought about killing his best friend? What was wrong with him? These thoughts were not his own. He looked over at Lillithia again, and suddenly he just knew. She was the cause of those hallucinations. Before he had time to act on this new knowledge, however, Neo Metal attacked. Barrage after barrage of punches rained down around Sonic. He could tell by the way Neo was fighting that he was right. Neo was much better than this, but blinded by the rage that Lillithia was inducing, he was just throwing punches with full power and hoping they landed. Sonic smiled. As he dove towards the ground and got into a ball, one of Neo's punches hit, but it was too late by that point. Sonic rose into the air, and created a cyclone around the Metal him, before launching his own attack, hitting Neo Metal everywhere. When the rage induced Neo noticed what was going on, he tried to defend, but Sonic finally found his spot. With one last hit, the shard of Lillithia's crystal broke from Neo's head, and freed him from her power.

"Guys aim for the crystals!" Sonic shouted before realizing that both Silver and Shadow were already done with their fight.

"Hmm, took you long enough. Was worried I might have to help you there."

"If it makes you feel any better Sonic I just finished. Was about to come help."

"Dang guys. Way to make a hog feel slow." Sonic sighed, before turning back to Lillithia, "Alright now it's time we kicked your butt."

"Oh? So you think just because you saved those bots that you have the advantage? Ha! This was just a test Sonic. Nothing more."

As she finished more of the green-crystal-bots emerged from the door behind her. These ones with weapons made of the same crystal. Lillithia laughed, before she walked away, and disappeared behind a shroud of darkness.

"Well, looks like we're gonna have our hands full for a while guys."

"Hmmph. Maybe you would." Shadow stated before stepping forward, extending his hands outward. "Chaos... BLAST!" He shouted, blasting the robots backwards, sending the front row into the back's weapons, and the back into the wall. Destroying most of the bots.

As Silver finished the last one, he looked over at Sonic and saw him gazing into the distance. "Sonic you ok?"

"Yeah, just... thinking."

"Well there's something new."

"Shut it Shadow. I'm being serious here. These two new guys, we know some of their powers, but not all of them. Lillithia has some ability to control anger and rage. I... I saw myself kill you guys, and... t... Tails. It was not a fun sight."

"Oh man. I'm sorry Sonic."

"Nah, it's not your fault, but I'm just saying, they have powers, and for all we know Meph might have a few new tricks too. I don't know if we'll be able to do this without all our friends."

As this last word left his mouth, he heard a beep come from his communicator. Tails had built it for him, and it looked simply like a watch, so he could wear it, and not worry about losing it, although he had flooded it with water a few times, before Tails made it waterproof.

"Sonic, come in! Sonic?"

"Yeah Tails I hear ya. Whats up?"

"I think I've figured out how this all works, once you're done there, come back and I'll give you the rundown on all of it."

"Gotcha, and Tails. Stay safe man."

"You too Sonic. Good luck."

Sonic turned towards the others, "Alright, let's go kick Meph's butt."

They ran past the pile of broken bots, down hallways made of clear crystal, defeating whatever bots they ran into. Silver thought it was weird they hadn't seen any of their other friends, but Sonic had just waved it off as they probably hadn't seen them outside. Finally, they reached the Main Chamber of the fortress.

Sonic looked around, it was built as if it was made for a king. Crystal windows surrounded the halls in light, a giant chandelier above and at the far end of a massive expanse of space, on a raised floor sat Mephiles, in a throne seat nonetheless. To his left Lillithia, and to his right the green one, Abbadis to his left. All three were smiling.

"Welcome Sonic. I hope the activities haven't left you too broken and beaten. Wouldn't want to end this show that quickly now would I?

"What are you up to Meph? Whatever it is I'm gonna stop ya." Sonic flashed a smile, before getting serious again.

"You've always been so sure of yourself. However, if I remember correctly, the last time we fought I killed you. Even if a fluke in time allowed you to return."

"What's your point Crystal-head?"

"My point, Sonic, is that there are now 2 other beings almost as powerful as I am. You will not survive this encounter. I will destroy everything you love, and I will make you watch. I will savor your screams. Then, when you ask me to kill you, and when you beg for the sweet release. I will have my sister trap you, as she did your friends, and you will serve her, and thus will serve me, until I finally grow bored of you and kill you myself. I. WILL. MAKE. YOU. SUFFER!" Mephiles shouted before breaking into laughter, a dark and cold laughter that filled the room with a sense of dread.

"Sonic, this doesn't feel right. I don't think we should fight them." Silver whispered.

"Hmm, as much as I hate agreeing with the silver-one, something is off, and it does not bode well for us." Shadow chimed in.

"Yeah, you're right. But, I have to get an idea of what he's doing. When I give the signal, Shadow chaos control us out of here. Ok?"

"I don't have a crystal Sonic."

"I know, I'll take care of that."

Suddenly Mephiles began to glow. Dark waves of purple enveloping him. "Enough! You will not ignore me Sonic! I will destroy you, but this isn't the time or the place. I have other things to attend to, and soon I will have that yellow fox under my control too. I will, however leave you with this." Mephiles and his two siblings disappeared, and a giant eggbot dropped from the ceiling. Much like it's smaller models, it was covered in green slime, however, it also had a red crystal embedded in it, and was emanating the same purple mist that Mephiles did.

Oh geez. Why can't things ever be easy." Sonic whispered to himself, before rushing forward.


	9. A New Foe

Sonic darted forward, just barely missing the fist that would've crushed him into a blue pancake. Shadow rolled into a ball, charging up his speed, and Silver, well Silver was glowing, and making things glow, throwing them at the new Crystal-bot. As soon as Sonic ran up the robot, he noticed what he was looking for. There, on the back of the robot lay a Chaos Emerald. It was emanating power, covering the robot. However, Sonic did notice that this emerald, while emanating the purple mist, was in fact the yellow Chaos Emerald, although it had purple surging inside it.

"Whatever, I need to get it to Shadow." Sonic thought, he turned into a ball and darted towards it, hoping Silver was keeping the bot busy. Suddenly, Shadow appeared, knocking a fist out of the way, that would've ended Sonic. Sonic returned to normal, and reached for the Emerald, grabbing it, and dodging away before the robot's foot came crashing down.

"Shadow! Catch!"

Sonic tossed the Emerald to Shadow, throwing it in an arc as far away from the robot as possible, but suddenly a new foe appeared. This small creature, which seemed to be completely constructed from the Green Crystal, grabbed the Emerald mid-flight, and enveloped it into its body, before jumping onto the shoulder of the big bot. An evil grin dancing across its face.

"What is that?" Silver shouted

Sonic didn't know. He was pretty sure Shadow didn't either, but right now that wasn't their concern. Right now they needed to get out of here, and with the door shut behind them, that Emerald was the only way out.

Sonic darted towards the robot, knowing that if he was fast enough, he might be able to evade the blows and go after the new creature, get the Emerald back, and then get the heck outta here. Tails was in trouble. The way Mephiles had been talking, he was going after Tails, and Sonic was not gonna let that psycho get a hold of his best friend.

The green crystal-creature jumped off the creature, taking a more hedgehog form. Almost looking exactly like Sonic. It rolled into a ball, and shot itself towards the ceiling, only to be met by Shadow, who had shot himself up after it.

"Sonic! Shadow's gonna deal with that thing, we need to handle this robot!"

"Gotcha Silver. Shadow, Keep that thing busy."

Still running, Sonic rolled underneath the robot, trying to find a weak point to blow through. Tails usually gave him info, let him know the flaws in his foe's armor or attacks, but right now there was no communication between him and Tails. Right now...

*phzzt*"H-h-hello? Is this da-damn thing working?"

"Egg-head?" Sonic touched the earpiece. He'd forgotten he had it.

"Yes yes you incessant hedgehog. Where did you think I went? Now then, on to business, have you acquired Mephiles yet?"

"No, he escaped, but one of your robots is here. It got any weak points?"

"Hmm, you must be talking about my newer machine the Egg-bot 206. It was to be my newest army bot. Finally I would've had..."

"Yeah, yeah. How do I break it Egg-head?"

"Ahh, yes I forgot who I was talking to. Very well, there should be a panel on the back that's weak to you hitting it in ball form."

"Thanks Egg-Head."

"Stop calling me that!" Eggman stated, before Sonic heard the *blip* that signaled Eggman had turned off the mic.

"Silver! Keep it busy. I've got an idea."

"Don't die Sonic!"

"Gee, thanks man."

"You know what I mean."

Sonic, dashed towards the bot once more, dodging rockets that it had fired at him, barely missing each explosion, before curling up into a ball and shooting off the side-wall to hit the wall to the robot's back. His first hit he ran into some of the green Crystal and was knocked backwards. Fortunately, Silver was keeping the robot too busy for it to notice. Sonic, looked at the back of the Egg-bot, and noticed the spot Egg-head had told him about was protected by a small layer of Green Crystal. Sonic would have to break through it somehow if he wanted to destroy this thing. He rolled back into a ball, and began shooting himself at the spot hitting it once, twice, and even a third time, before he began to hurt. The green crystal was too strong. Even that small layer was enough to stop him, and every time he hit it, it hurt.

"Sonic, you ok? I don't know if I can hold him much longer!"

Silver was struggling, Shadow was busy, why was he left to do this? Sonic started to feel the rage building up inside him again. Before he could calm down, the red enveloped him, and he blacked out. Suddenly he was standing in the middle of the room, the Emerald in one hand and Silver in another. He dropped Silver, and backed away. What had he done? Why had he been holding Silver like that, choking him? What was going on? Suddenly a hand was placed on his shoulder and he tensed, before noticing it was Shadow.

"Sonic are you, yourself now? You almost killed Silver."

"I-I didn't... I mean I... what...what happened?" Sonic said, afraid and confused. He had almost killed one of his friends, he had almost killed Silver, and he didn't even remember getting so close to doing it.

"You burst through the robot's chest, with the Emerald in your hand, but after you landed you just stood there. Until Silver ran up to you. I had finished the green creature off with a controlled Chaos Blast, and turned to see Silver confused by how you didn't seem to respond, but as soon as he put a hand on you, your own shot out at his throat, lifting him off the ground. I began running towards you, but when I got close you swatted me away."

"Are...Are you ok Silver?"

"Yeah *cough* Sonic I'm ok. I just need a sec."

"We don't have one. Sonic, the crystal. NOW."

"Why the rush, he just...oh." Sonic finished as he looked around the room to see more of the green monsters appearing, dropping from the ceiling in little splatters. Even the robot had gotten back up, now fully encased in green crystal. They were closing in around the three Hedgehogs.

Sonic tossed the crystal to Shadow, grabbed Silver and then put his hand on Shadow's Shoulder, right before Shadow screamed, "Chaos...Control!"

Suddenly, they were dropped into the same clearing that they had left Tails at. Sonic got up, hoping to see his best friend, hoping to get some answers about the anger and his blackout, but then he noticed the burn marks, the broken trees, the mini-craters in the surrounding earth.

"What happened?" Silver asked no one in particular. But Sonic had a guess. Out of nowhere a dark ominous cloud descended over the atmosphere, and a voice spoke.

"Well well. So you did escape. Nonetheless, you weren't fast enough Sonic. You never were."

"Mephiles! Where's tails?"

"Miles? Why he's with me of course. Say hello Miles." From behind Mephiles, Tails emerged, but just like Amy and the others, he was different. His gloves had turned dark, his bright colored fur had become dull and grayish, and he had a spiked necklace on. He looked at Sonic, with glazed red eyes, his normal blue gone.

"What'd you do to him?" Silver shouted, rushing at Mephiles. Right before he was about to strike, Tails moved into the way, separating Silver from Meph.

"Tails. Buddy. It's me Sonic." Sonic said, walking up to Tails, looking him directly in the eyes. Silver and Shadow both made a move to go past Tails to get to Mephiles, but Sonic stopped them. He could get through to Tails, he knew he could.

"Remember all the good times buddy. All our adventures together, that one time we went to the moon? Stopping Eggman, saving our friends? C'mon Tails, we've had so many fun times together. You can't just forget that." Sonic reached towards the collar, if he could get it off, he might be able to save Tails, but right as he touched it, Tails grabbed him and threw him at Silver and Shadow, who were barely able to brace themselves, so that they all didn't fall and roll away.

"Hahaha! That was so touching Sonic. I almost cried, but I told you didn't I? My revenge is nowhere close to over. This entire world will suffer, for the disgrace you gave me. I will take everything from you, and then, only then, will I finally turn you into one of my mindless drones and laugh as I make you destroy everything you've ever protected. I will break you! By the time I turn you, you'll be more than happy to have your will taken from you, to not be able to think about everything you couldn't stop! I! WILL! END! YOU!" Mephiles shouted, the dark aura around him, spreading, encircling the trio and the now-enslaved Tails. Sonic looked at Shadow, and then at the gem. Shadow shook his head, and pulled Sonic and Silver Closer, before shouting 'Chaos Control!' and teleporting them away. The last thing Sonic saw, was Mephiles laughing, as Tails just stood there.


End file.
